Engine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. l, 1931.

I A. c, JoHNsoN ENGINE Filed May 16. 1928 Dec. 1, 1931. A 1C. JQHNSQN 1,834,099

' ENGINE Filed May 1e. 192e 3 sheets-sheet .-2

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ENGINE Filed May 1e, 1928 s sheelbs-sneet 5 Arron/(Ky Patented Dec. 1, 1931 UNITED ALFRED c. ;roH1\Tso1\T,o1s` WINTERS, CALIFORNIA, Ass'IeNoR 'ro JAMES 1er.l nccoLLoUGH,

oF SAN Jo'SE, CALIFGRNIA ENGINE It is one ob'ect of the present invention to provide an engine of the character indi-` cated so Constructed and 'arranged as to be perfectly balanced ivitho't the useof lcounteriveights. A j Y v Itis another 'object of the invention to pro'-v vide an engine of the character indicated whereinA the' power developed nay be` applied to the propeller shaft througl'ithe medv mm of a piuraia'y 'ofbanksy of cynndrewahout increasing the sizeof the crankshaft and connecting rod bearings over the 'size necessary for use in a single bank engine;

` It is still another obj'ecto'f the invention to provide a perfectly balancedV radial aero'-` plane 4engine capablevofope'ratin'g a single propeller shaft throughr the lmedium of a single bankof cylinders, or a pliirali'ty of banksV of cylinders, each bank consisting of an even number of vcylinders concentrically and radially disposed about theprop'elle'r shaft, and provided with pistons having gear connections therewith. y Itis also an object of the invention to provide an engine of lthe character indicated wherein a'single piece barrel may be utilized for the crank case thereby providing a Well formed, strong and relatively light construction in which the several Working parts may be assembled throughthe ends a'ndthe minor operating mechanisms brought together in a compact arrangement at the rear of the en= eine.y Y b It is afurther object of the invention to provide a perfectly balanced'higli speed engine which delivers i'tsypv'ver smoothl'yand With a minimu'i'nv amount of friction toa pro'- peller running at geared-down ratio.`

Finally', it is a particular objecty of theinvention to'provide a gear povver'transrission Whereinthe meshing vteeth of the drivingv and driven gears are heldin positive forward driving lcontact, at all times.

In' thedr'awingsf o i H Igure 1 isa section through a portion of afsing'le bank, four cylinder, radial engine embo'dyiiigmy invention. i

igure *2is' a transverse cross section throlgh anv engine of the type shown in'Fig'- .ure a A .Y i

Figuref isl a pictoriall diafrra'in of a mul# spie bank Vradin' enginel emledying my invention. Y v

Figure ure;

V5 is ai perspective'illustrati'on of thel ri'ving connection between leach cylin# derand the propeller shaft, partly in tion and parts broken away; s l i Q Referring new more particularlyvto the drawings; show at 1a cylindrical crank provided withv removable end' caps as 2 l is asection on line 4-4 of 'igL sec- invvhich is mounted a propeller shaft The i shaft k3' has an endportion 4e of reduced di'- `a3me`ter mounted thereon as at 5v andpro'- jf'eicting through the rear end lcap as shown. gear 6 is mountedon the shaft 3 and itis through, this gear that the shaft is" driven.

Equally spaced about the case 1 are openings 7 n' Which are mounted radially a1'- ranged vcylinders 8 fitted with pistons as`v 9, theA connecting rods showingy at' 10.

y kMc'iuntedt inbearings 11 Within case 1 and adjacent eacliicylinder 8 is a crank shaft 1:2, this sliaftlying parallel with the propel ler shaft Y3 andadj'acent thegear 6 thereon.

crank shaft 12 has g'earjteeth 13' formed thereon' to 'mesh With the teeth OI'i geirr 6.

annular shoulder 14 Vis 'formed onthe sha-1h51@` in the plane of one end of gear 1;3,

and on this' shoulder is forni'ed an yannular A groove 115: concentrically :.irrariged relative to the shaft 12. At' `spaeed intervals in the len th of this" groove are formed socketsis' as 16 1nl which are seated pins afs 17; these pins of c'ioursef being concentrically arranged relative' to shaft4 l2 and lying paralleltherevvith.

`t 18 I show' a eollarniounted on'the reduced prtionof shaft l2r tdrtate tlierev'vithl and yet'bing capable of aarta'ry movement relal transverse cross-section andY adapted to align therewith but materially shorter than the teeth 13. This collar 18 has an annular groove 20 formed therein in opposed relation to groove and at spaced intervals inthe groove are formed sockets as 21 fitted with pins 22, the, pins 22 being so positioned -as to alternate with the pins 17, and each set of pins 17 and 22 projecting into the opposing groove 20 and 15, whereby to overlap as shown. Inserted in the opposing grooves 20-15Vwhich, when the device -is assembled, form a single annular passage, andbetween each pair of `alternating pins v20.--17, are springs 23. 'i l l The result of this construction is that when the driving gear 13 is rotated in thedirection indicated bythe arrow'the teeth bear against the teeth of the driven gear 6 torotate Athe same. But since the gear teeth 19 are only connectedtolteeth 13 through the medium f ofy the springs' 23 it resultsfthat they are urged in the opposite direction against the forwardsurfaces'of teeth 6, while the teeth 19 .are forced against the rear' surfaces of teethe A f There'is, ofcourse, in all cases a certain clearance-between the teeth of the driving and driven gears, and this clearance naturally increases by Wear. In the present embodiment of'my invention there are four Adriv- `ing lgears on the one drivenlgear, and consequently since these gears are taking the place ofi'ly-wheels, each forits respective crankshaft, without some controlling means each one of these crankshafts would operate very- ,much the same as an engine with a loose iiywheel, and this constant knock and vibration would destroy the working parts and result in failure.Y Thiswouldoccur through the back-lash of the gears developed in changing 'from one side of the teeth to the opposing side indifferent cycles of the engine. The necessary clearance between the teeth would cause destructive lvibration in the'working parts and as wearing of the gear vrteeth increased itwould naturally progressivelyapproach thepoint where the engine would be destroyed, and to where the vibration' would be projected intotlhe propeller Hshaft andy from it to the propeller hub causing-'failure of the propeller. By means of f' .thelconstruction disclosed the driving face ofthe gear teeth is constantly held in positive contact with the drive side of the driven gear teethso that a smooth rolling motion of tthe teeth is maintained at all times. tain this most desired result the springs need only be depressed a certain amount, they do To obnot have? to be balanced. It is only necessary' that the aggregate pressure of the springs in each gear set against their `respective pins more than balance the mean effective pressures upon the piston or pistons prothatfthe unbalancedpart of thetotal assembly is reduced to a minimum.

A connection for the kpropeller is shown at 28. On the rear end plate of the casing 1 are magneto drive shafts as 29 operated by gear connections as 30 to the shaft 5.

In Figures 3 and 4 I show an assembl comprising four banks of cylinders, each ban i comprising siX radiall arranged cylinders. In this arrangement t e banks are divided into parts as 31 and 32, and the corresponding cylinders in each pair of banks as 33 are connected tothe same crank shaft 12 by means of their respective connecting rods l0. In thisarrangement, of course, perfect balancing is achieved in the same Vmanner as set forth in connection withthe engine comprising a single bank of four cylinders.

It is to beunderstood, of course, that while I have herein shown and described kcertain, preferred embodiments of the invention, changes in form, construction, and method of assembly and operation may be made Within the ,scope of the appended claims.

1.." Iiicombination, a pro eller shaft, means for mounting'a propeller t ereon, an internal combustion engine actuated driving shaft, meshing gearsmounted onsaid shafts, and means .inserted between the gears to constantlyhold the teeth of the drivin gear in posi-` tive contact with the teethof t e driven gear with sufficientv pressure Yto counteract all forces acting in a reverse direction between the driving and driven shafts, whereby Vto obviate the necessity of mounting. a fly wheel on the crank shaft. l

2. In combination, a drivenvaeroplane propellery shaft, an internal combustion engine actuated crank shafthaving cranks formed thereon, meshing gears mounted on said shafts, and Vback-lash eliminating means inwhereby to obviate the necessity of mounting a ily wheel on the crank shaft.

4. In combination with a driven shaft having an aeroplane propeller mounted thereon, a driving shaft, an internal combustion engine connected to the driving shaft and applying non-overlapping impulses thereto to rotate the same in one direction, and meshing gears mounted on said shafts; of back-lash take-up means inserted between the gears whereby to obviate the necessity of mounting a. flywheel on the driving shaft by counteracting the reverse forces acting upon the driving shaft and generated by the non-overlapping impulses.

5. In combination, `a driven shaft having an aeroplane propeller mounted thereon and having a gear mounted thereon, an internal combustion engine actuated crank shaft having not more than two cranks formed thereon and having a gear formed thereon as an integral part thereof and meshing with said first mentioned gear, said shaft having an annular shoulder formed thereon in the plane of one end of the second mentioned gear, a` collar Y mounted on the reduced portion of the shaft and seated against said shoulder and rotatable with the shaft and capable of a rotary movement with respect to the shaft, the said collar having gear teeth formed thereon meshing with the first mentioned gear and identical in cross-sectional conformation with the teeth of said second mentioned'v gear and capable of aligning therewith, and means inserted between the collar and the crank shaft adapted to set up a relative rotary movement between the ycollar and shaft in opposite directions, whereby to urge the teeth of the driving gear and the collar against opposing faces of the teeth of the driven gear to counteract all forces travelling in a reverse `direction between the crank shaft and the driven shaft, and to obviate the necessity of mounting a fly wheel on the crank shaft.

ALFRED C. JOHNSON. 

